RET 2012: Daniella Duran

Intern: Daniella Duran

Mentor: Erin Kyle

Faculty: James Speck

Great activity to supplant mundane ice melting/ freezing labs and get students excited about energy - thermochemistry!

This 3-part lesson introduces the nanoscale effect of various energy inputs on the crystal lattice of a smart material, Nitinol, and then invites students to become nanotechnology inventors. Students will first explore how energy exchanges lead to solid-state phase changes at the macroscale and explore the applications of this nanotechnology. Students will measure the transition temperature at which the material “remembers” its shape, and then retrain the material into a new shape. Students will calculate the energy input required for the response in the smart material using the equation (1) q = mc∆T and consider how that energy affects the crystal lattice at the nanoscale. Then students will examine models of the crystal lattice structures to make predictions about how the energy is affecting the nanoscale structures. Through class discussions of their predictions, students will link these energy exchanges to solid-state phase changes through plastic deformations in the crystal lattice structure at the nanoscale. Finally, students will become nanotechnology inventors and create a potential use for the smart material. Through their own experimental designs, students will determine which type of energy input would be the most effective at altering the nanoscale lattice and present their findings.

Purpose: This lab is designed to help students understand the nanoscale effect of various energy inputs on the crystal lattice of a smart material, Nitinol, and invites students to become nanotechnology inventors.